¶ Now Jephthah¹ the Gileadite was a mighty man of valour, and he was the son of an harlot³: and Gilead begat Jephthah.

And Gilead's wife bare him sons; and his wife's sons grew up, and they thrust out⁴ Jephthah, and said unto him, Thou shalt not inherit in our father's house; for thou art the son of a strange⁵ woman.

Then Jephthah fled from his brethren⁶, and dwelt in the land of Tob: and there were gathered vain men⁷ to Jephthah, and went out with him.

¶ And it came to pass in process of time, that the children of Ammon made war against Israel.

And it was so, that when the children of Ammon made war⁹ against Israel, the elders of Gilead went to fetch¹⁰ Jephthah out of the land of Tob:

And they said unto Jephthah, Come, and be our captain, that we may fight with the children of Ammon.

And Jephthah said unto the elders of Gilead, Did not ye hate¹¹ me, and expel me out of my father's house? and why are ye come unto me now when ye are in distress?

And the elders¹² of Gilead said unto Jephthah, Therefore we turn¹³ again to thee now, that thou mayest go with us, and fight against the children of Ammon, and be our head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.

And Jephthah said unto the elders of Gilead, If ye bring¹⁴ me home again to fight against the children of Ammon, and the LORD deliver them before me, shall I be your head?

¶ And the elders of Gilead said unto Jephthah, The LORD¹⁵ be witness¹⁶ between us, if we do¹⁷ not so according to thy words.

Then Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him head¹⁸ and captain over them: and Jephthah uttered¹⁹ all his words before²¹ the LORD in Mizpeh²².

¶ And Jephthah sent messengers²³ unto the king of the children of Ammon, saying, What hast²⁴ thou to do with me, that thou art come against me to fight in my land?

And the king of the children of Ammon answered unto the messengers of Jephthah, Because Israel²⁵ took away my land, when they came up out of Egypt, from Arnon²⁶ even unto Jabbok²⁷, and unto Jordan: now therefore restore those lands again peaceably.

And Jephthah sent messengers again unto²⁸ the king of the children of Ammon:

And said unto him, Thus saith Jephthah, Israel took²⁹ not away the land of Moab, nor the land of the children of Ammon:

But when³⁰ Israel came up from Egypt, and walked³¹ through the wilderness unto the Red sea, and came³² to Kadesh;

Then Israel sent messengers³³ unto the king³⁴ of Edom, saying, Let me, I pray thee, pass through thy land: but the king of Edom would not hearken thereto. And in like manner they sent unto the king of Moab: but he would not consent: and Israel abode³⁵ in Kadesh.

Then they went³⁶ along through the wilderness, and compassed³⁷ the land of Edom, and the land of Moab, and came by³⁸ the east side of the land of Moab, and pitched³⁹ on the other side of Arnon, but came not within the border of Moab: for Arnon was the border of Moab.

⁴⁰And Israel sent messengers unto Sihon king of the Amorites, the king of Heshbon; and Israel said unto him, Let us pass, we pray thee, through thy land into my place.

¶⁴¹But Sihon trusted not Israel to pass through his coast: but Sihon gathered all his people together, and pitched in Jahaz, and fought against Israel.

And the LORD God of Israel delivered Sihon and all his people into the hand of Israel, and they smote them: so Israel possessed all the land of the Amorites, the inhabitants of that country.

And they⁴⁵ possessed all the coasts of the Amorites, from Arnon even unto Jabbok, and from the wilderness⁴⁶ even unto Jordan.

So now the LORD God of Israel hath dispossessed the Amorites from before his people Israel, and shouldest thou possess it?

Wilt not thou possess that which Chemosh thy god giveth thee to possess? So whomsoever the LORD our God shall drive out from before us, them will we possess.

And now art thou any thing better than Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab? did he ever strive against Israel, or did he ever fight against them,

While Israel dwelt in Heshbon and her towns, and in Aroer and her towns, and in all the cities that be along by the coasts of Arnon, three hundred years? why therefore did ye not recover them within that time?

⁵⁶Wherefore I have not sinned against thee, but thou doest me wrong to war against me: the LORD the Judge be judge this day between the children of Israel and the children of Ammon.

Howbeit the king of the children of Ammon hearkened not unto the words of Jephthah⁵⁸ which he sent him.

¶⁶⁰Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon Jephthah, and he passed over Gilead, and Manasseh, and passed over Mizpeh of Gilead, and from Mizpeh of Gilead he passed over unto the children of Ammon.

¶ And Jephthah vowed a vow unto the LORD, and said, If thou shalt without fail deliver the children of Ammon into mine hands,

Then it shall be, that whatsoever cometh forth of the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the children of Ammon, shall surely be the LORD'S, and I will offer it up for a burnt offering.

So Jephthah passed over unto the children of Ammon to fight against them; and the LORD delivered them into his hands.

And he smote them from Aroer, even till thou come to Minnith, even twenty cities, and unto the plain of the vineyards, with a very great slaughter. Thus the children of Ammon were subdued before the children of Israel.

And Jephthah came to Mizpeh unto his house, and, behold, his daughter came out to meet him with timbrels and with dances: and she was his only child; beside her he had neither son nor daughter.

And it came to pass, when he saw her, that he rent his clothes, and said, Alas, my daughter! thou hast brought me very low, and thou art one of them that trouble me: for I have opened my mouth unto the LORD, and I cannot go back.

And she said unto him, My father, if thou hast opened thy mouth unto the LORD, do to me according to that which hath proceeded out of thy mouth; forasmuch as the LORD hath taken vengeance for thee of thine enemies, even of the children of Ammon.

⁷⁵And she said unto her father, Let this thing be done for me: let me alone two months, that I may go up and down upon the mountains, and bewail my virginity, I and my fellows.

And he said, Go. And he sent her away for two months: and she went with her companions, and bewailed her virginity upon the mountains.

And it came to pass at the end of two months, that she returned unto her father, who did with her according to his vow which he had vowed: and she knew no man. And it was a custom in Israel,

¶ That the daughters of Israel went yearly to lament the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite four days in a year.